Method of and means fob steaightening railroad-bails



G. LANGFORD.

METHOD OF AND mums ron sm/ucmmmc RAILROAD RAILS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24.1915.

Patented Sept. 2, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I I 1721267357" George -Langomi AZZaTney.

G. LANGFORD.

- "METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR STRAIGHIENING RAILROAD RAILS.

v APPLICATION FILED JULY 24.19I6. 1,314,877.

, Patented Sept. 2, 1919.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2 G.LANGFORD.

METHOD or AND MEANS FOR STRAIGHTENING RAILROAD RAILS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24.1916.

1,3 1 4,877 Patented Sept. 2, 1919. I I L411 n:n1--27 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

G. LANGFORD.

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR STRAIGHTENING RAILROAD RAILS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24.1915.

1,314,877. Patented Sept. 2, 1919.

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METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR STRAIGHTENIN G RAILROAD-RAILS.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE LANGFORD, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Joliet, in the-county of Will and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Methods of and Means for Straightening Railroad-Rails, of

. which the following is a full, clear, concise,

and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a method of and means for straightening railroad rails.

Cold straightening of railroad rails is necessary since it is impracticable to roduce rails which are straight enough to e laid with the front bearing plate removed;

Fig. 3 shows the front bearing plate in front elevation;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic section of the cross head, plunger and hammer face;

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are diagrams indicating the manner of straightening rails of different degrees of stiffness;

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating the increased area of pressure-of the hammer face upon the top of the rail;

Figs. 9, 10,11 and 12 are diagrams illustrating the action of the hammer face upon /the rails during the operation of straightening;

Figs. 13 and 14 illustrate the theory of straightening which the applicants method and machine approaches; and

Figs. 15 and 16 illustrate the theory of straightening which the prior art ap proaches.

My invention aims to ellminate the de structive'efi'ect of localized straightening by applying a distributed force.

I have found that a number of important conceptions lie. at the foundation of my in- Speciflcatlon of Letters latent. Application filed July 24, 1916. Serial No. 110,836.

Patented Sept. 2, 1919.

vention, one of which is that the width or area of'contact of the engaging face of the hammer and the width between supports must be increased in proportion with the increase in stifi'nessand height of the rail and the machine which I have illustrated embodies in practical form the application of this basic doctrine.

In practising my invention I employ a machine of the type shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

A main frame 10 having a base portion 11 supports a bed or table 12 which bears the supporting rollers 13 and 14. V The rail 15 to be straightened is rested upon the rollers 13 and 14 with the convex side upward. The

rollers '13 and 14 are journaled in rectangular blocks 16 and 17 that are set into large rectangular notches or gains 18 and 19 formed in'the face of the bed or table 12. The notches 18 and 19 are wider than the blocks 16 and 17 and the space is filled by suitable filler blocks 20 and 21. The filler blocks 20 and 21 ma be removed and the roller blocks 16 and 17 moved to the inward position when the distance in span between the supporting rollers 18 and 14 is to be shortened. In this case the blocks 16, 20, and 17,- 21 are interchanged. Other suitable filler blocks may be employed upon each side of the roller blocks 16 and 17 Where an intermediate position is desired. Anvil blocks 22 and 23 are dove-tailed into the table 12, these anvils being employed as will be described laterin connection with straightem ing light weight rails and in straightening the rails near the end. The machine is also provided with suitable shims for raising the roller blocks 16 and 17 any desired degree.

It is to be understood that other means may be employed for securing lateral and vertical adjustment of the rollers 13 and 14, the means I have shown being the one preferred but not necessarily the only means which may be employed.

The main frame 10 is provided with a pair of guides 25, 26 between which a hammer frame 27 is slidably mounted. The hammer frame 27 provides suitable guides for a cross-head frame 28, these two frame parts being relatively adjustable with respect to each other by means of a suitable wedge 30 as will be described later. The

cross head frame 28 provides suitable slides or bearings for the cross head 31 which fits about the cam or crank 3-2 formed on the main shaft 33. (See Fig. 4). The main shaft 33 has bearings within the barrel 35 formed upon. the main frame 10. The fora ward extension 36 of the shaft 33 which is of reduced diameter is provided with a suitable bearing 36 in the front plate 34 WhlCh is bolted in position upon the front of the ways 25 and 26. A channel bar 37 or the like is mounted upon the top of the ways 25 and 26, as shown in Fi 2, and a pair of rods 38 and 39 pass up t rough-the channel bars and are surrounded by suitable springs 40 and 41 in such manner as to support the weight of the hammer frame and connected parts. The tension on the springs 40 and.

' ing parts of the hammer frame and cross is rigidly connected to the shaft 51 and is 7 head frame. A shaft 51 is pivoted in a pair of lugs 52, 53 and aslotted lever'54connects the shaft 51 with'the wedge 30. A suitable controllin and indicating lever 55 provided with suitable latch mechanism 56,

which coiipera-tes with the ratchet quadrant" 57 to hold the wedge 30 in any position in,

which it is set in order to predetermine the force of the blow delivered to therail. j The quadrant 57 is provided .with suitable indi'-.

cations 58 for indicating the setting of the wedge. A stop 59 limits the outward movement of-the wedge 30 by engaging the lever 55. A suitable hammerfface 60 is secured to the bottom of the hammer frame 27, the parts being suitably grooved or teed to insure alinement. The depth of the hammer face 60 is made considerably greater than the rail in order to permit of considerable variation in placing of the rail between the hammer face 60 and the rollers 13, 14.

The main frame 10 is provided with a suitable supporting bracket 62 which forms the bed for an electric motor 63 which is .geared by means of the pmion, not shown, .to the gear 65, mounted on the shaft 66.

The shaft 66 is provided with bearings in the standards 67 and 68.

A suitable fly-wheel 69 is keyed to the shaft 66 and serves to equalize the load upon the motor 63. 'A pinion 70 is secured to the rear end of the shaft 66 and this pinion meshes with a large gear 1 mounted loosely upon the main shaft 33.

A suitable one stroke clutch arrangement is provided on the rear end of the shaft 33 for causing the plunger ,27 to make one stroke and then stop in the raised position.

A suitable clutch portion 72 is bolted to the gear 71 and normally idles on the shaft 33.

A coiiperating clutch part 73 is keyed by mean of feather keys or the like to the shaft 33 being normally held disengaged by suitable spring means. The two clutch parts '72 and 73 are suitably notched as shown at '74 to form a positive clutch. Suitable means for throwing in the clutch and holding the same in engaged position during one complete stroke is provided by the following means. A bell-crank lever 75 mounted on the shaft 76 has its vertical arm provided with av suitable engaging member 77 which,

is adjustable with respect to the clutch half 73. The shaft 76 is journaled in a suitable bearing supported by means of the post 78 'upon a pair of channel bars 79 bolted at their front ends to the sides of the main" The clutch part 73 is provided with an eccentric groove 83 which is flush with the top surface as shown in Fig. 1. A suitable spring plunger 84 is adapted to lie in the groove 83 during the downward and return ortion of the stroke. When the hammer is in .the raised position the pin 84 rests against the part of the groove which is flush with the upward surface and at this time the sprin means is therefore free to disengage the c utch parts 73 and 72. The particular arrangement of the one stroke mechanism that I have illustrated forms no part of the present invention and any other suitable mechanism may be employed instead for securing the effect of a clutch during a full stroke of the plunger. It is also apparent that other means than the springs 40 and 41 may be employed for holding the plunger in raised position, such, for instance, as causing a slight binding action of the plunger between the ways when the plunger is at the upper end of its travel. Counterweights may also be employed, although I find that springs'are preferable to the use of counterweights. The rollers 13 and 14 may be replaceable by grooved rollers for holding therail 15 in position to be engaged on its side. The operation of the device is as follows:

The machine stands normally with the plunger'27 raised so that the hammer face 60 is clear of the space to be occupied by the rail to be straightened. The indicating handle 55 is placed in a position approachthe horizontal or first position, the clutch parts 7 3 and 7 2' are separated and the motor is running. The rail straightener stands at the right hand side of the machine viewing the machine and the rail somewhat as shown in Fig. 1. The gagger stands machine for straightening in front of the machine in position to set the wedge 30 and thereby control the stroke of the plunger 27 by means of the controlling and indicating handle 55. A rail which is to be strai htened is laid upon the rollers 13, the mac line is set for a light stroke and a few practicestrokes are tried in order to note the efiect upon the particular rail. The straightener sights along the rail 15, placing the .part of the rail which is to be straightened beneath the hammer face 60 and gives his directions to the gagger for obtaining the proper depth of stroke. When it is desired to straighten the rail near the end, the extreme end, the rail is rested upon one of the anvils, such as 23, and is passed over the opposite roller as 13 and a suitable blow delivered to the rail to bring it to the required form. Similarly the opposite end of the rail may be straightened. y resting the extreme end upon the anvil 22 and laying-the rail upon the roller 14. V

Suitable adjustment is provided on the rails of different sizes usually designated y the weight per yard. For instance in straightening 125 lb.

rail, such as is indicated in Fi 7, the rollers 13 and 14 will be spaced at t eir outermost position, as shown in Fi 2 and 7. A hammer face 60 of a suitab e width and contour is employed for delivering the stroke to the rail. For lighter sizes of rails the distance between the supports is decreased and the width of the hammer face is decreased.

For instance in Fig. 6 suitable parts are indicated for straightening 100 1b. standard rails. A hammer face 61 of less width is employed for securing the proper straightening efiect. For light rails the supports 22 and 23 may be employed and a still narrower hammer face may be bolted to the plunger 27. For light sections of rails such as wlll not be damaged by the use of the gag, due to the relatively small stiffness and low height of therail, a gag may be used in conjunction with the hammer face and wedge mechanism.

-A certain relation is to be observed between the form andwidth of the hammer face, the height of the rail to be straightened and the distance between supports. If

it were possible it would be desirab e to have the straightening effects uniform over the parts which require strai htening, so that if a rail had a definite cam er along its entire length, it would be desirable to support the rail at its extreme end and deliver one single blow eifective over the full length of the rail which would just overcome the said camber and leave the rail perfectly straight along its entire length. However, it is found i to be essential to make the distance between the supports less than the full length of the rail because of the variation in curvature in a single rail which needs to be straightened.

ofv the rest of the rail. Hence the span over which straightening is to extend must be limited to an amount in which the straightening effect may be properly applied and controlled to produce the desired results.

I have found that there is no strict limit either to the width of the hammer face or the len h of span or the height of the rail,

but a airly wide degree of variation may be employed within the teachings of my invention.

I have made numerous tests of various proportions of these quantities in order to nd as nearly as possible the underlying requirements or securing straightenin with as little damage as possible to the fi er of the rail. The action that occurs in the fiber of the rail is as is'set'elsewhere an actual displacement of the metal and as such is not governed by the well known laws of safe oading.

The following table represents the result of my experimental determination of the relation of the length of span Z, the height of the section It, the width of the base It, (for sidewise straightening) and width of hammer face a.

F or straightening rails where the height it greatly exceeds the width of base It, I employ a hammer face and rollers which are provided with extensions on the sides that support the rail properly onv its side and deliver the desired blow on the flange.

From the above table it may be seen that in each case I can make the width of hammer face substantially two times the height h of the rail and make the distance of span l substantially twelve times the height of the rail, or in equation form-- The desired effect to be obtained is a smoothing out effect rather than a sharp kinking.

The condition which I desire to approach is thatillustrated in Figs. 13 and 14. Con- I sider the crooked rail shown in Fig. 13 to consist of a number of longitudinal laminations' of minute thickness d t, it can be seen that by stretching the laminations on the short side and compressing the laminations on the long side this rail may be brought to the straight condition without destroying the continuity of the rail. If the laminations be considered as entirely separate and they be .brought tothe straight form, as shown in Fig. 14, still the continuity of the rail is not broken.

The first consideration in practising my invention is to spread out the area of contact between the plunger and the face of the rail to be straightened over such a wide area that the pressure will not be destructive to the rail. gag 4, as shown in F ig. 20, it can be seen that Where the stiflness of the rail Z is very great, the pressure in lbs. per square inch upon the area of contact between the gag and the rail may be greater than the crushing strength of the metal and as a consequence there is incipient failure at the point where the gag touches the rail. According to my invention the use of the wide hammerface not only distributes the pressure over a large area but the convexity of the hammer face prevents a sharp contrast in the application of the pressure. Considering the diagram of Fig.

' -8 it can be seen that if the difierence'in pressure between the element .0340 and the element (l'w is greater than a certaln predetermined amount the rail would be marred, but where'this pressure differs only in a relatively small degree there will be no marring of the rail.

As a consequence the stresses in the rail are so distributed that there is substantially no damage to the steel.

Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12 are diagrams indicating the progress of the stroke during straightening. When the hammer face is just brought into contact with the rail the central part thereof is the only one which applies any pressure to the rail.

In straightening rails or the like it is necessary to actually strain the metal. That is to say, the work of straightening is carried on after the stresses are carried beyond Considering the effect of the this requirement for first bringing the stresses in the rail up to the elastic limit. The rail is firstloaded to the point where the elastic limit is reached. This loading is naturally accompanied by a corresponding material degree.

That is to say, straightening a bar com- I prises two 'stepsfirst loading the bar to the point where the unit' stresses in some part thereof reach the elastic limit, and second deflecting the bar to acquire the desired degree of set or straightening effect.

Naturally the first step cannot be accomplished without'entailing deflection and the second step cannot be accomplished without increasing the loading but the merit of my invention lies in the fact that the unit stress is not increased greatly at any one point but instead is extended over a wider area.

This application is in part a continuation of the subject matter found in my prior application, Serial No. 51130 filed Septem ber 17th, 1915. I

I desire that the above relation of the quantities Z, 72. and a be construed liberally as I consider that I am the first to teach the rail straightening art how to obtainin actual practice a distributed blow in straightening rails as distinguished from the concentrated blow.

I claim:

1. The method of straightening rails which consists in supporting the rail .to be straightened 'upon two supports spaced apart a distance substantially equal to twelve times the height of the rail to be straightened, then applying pressure upon the rail substantially midway between the supports, and progressively spreading the pressure longitudinally along the rail toward. each support a distance substan-.

tially equal to the height of the rail and sufficient to deflect the rail beyond the elastic limits 'of, but insuflicient to disrupt the material. I

2. In a machine for straightening rails,- supports for the rails spread apart substantially twelve times the height of the rail to be straightened, a plunger arranged between the supports for applying pressure to the rail, a hammer face on the plunger having a width substantially twice the height of the rail and adapted to first contact with the rail substantially midway between'the supports and to progressively apply pressure to the rail from the contact point toward each support, and means for predetermining the stroke of the plunger for regulating the amount of pressure to be applied.

3. In a machine for straightening rails,

supports for the rail, a reeiprocable member I substantially midway between the supports,

a plunger for striking the rail operatively related to. said member and provided with a hammer 'faoe substantially twice as wide as the height of the rail to be straightened, springs normally holding the plunger at the upper limit of its movement, a transversely movable wedge, manually insertible between said member and said plunger for causing 10 In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe 15 my name this 21st day of uly A D. 1916. GEORGE LANGFORD. 

